Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 12
Bhū-maṇḍala as a Lotus: Jambūdvīpa, Ilāvṛta, and the Meru System
Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, and Brahmapurī
चतुर्ष्वेतेषु चूतजम्बूकदम्बन्यग्रोधाश्चत्वार: पादप प्रवरा: पर्वतकेतव इवाधिसहस्रयोजनोन्नाहास्तावद् विटपविततय: शतयोजनपरिणाहा: ॥ १२ ॥
caturṣv eteṣu cūta-jambū-kadamba-nyagrodhāś catvāraḥ pādapa-pravarāḥ parvata-ketava ivādhi-sahasra-yojanonnāhās tāvad viṭapa-vitatayaḥ śata-yojana-pariṇāhāḥ.
Standing like flagstaffs on the summits of these four mountains are a mango tree, a rose apple tree, a kadamba tree and a banyan tree. Those trees are calculated to have a width of 100 yojanas [800 miles] and a height of 1,100 yojanas [8,800 miles]. Their branches also spread to a radius of 1,100 yojanas.
FAQs
This verse says that in each of the four regions there is a foremost tree—mango, jambu, kadamba, and banyan—immensely tall (over a thousand yojanas) with vast branch-spread and huge trunk circumference.
Śukadeva explains the Lord’s ordered creation and sacred geography to broaden Parīkṣit’s understanding of the universe as the Lord’s arrangement, strengthening remembrance and devotion through hearing (śravaṇam).
Even without mapping every detail, a seeker can take the lesson that creation is vast and purposeful, cultivating humility and God-consciousness by hearing and reflecting on the Lord’s design.